Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 18, 2004

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 18, 2004

Appliances

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – May 18, 2004 – If you’re ever casting around looking for something to be thankful for, just take a walk through your kitchen and have a long, hard look at your appliances. I bought new ones last year – wonderful stainless steel Maytags.

A sleek, bottom freezer fridge, a seamless, flat front dishwasher and a black top stainless steel gas stove. My old appliances – dishwasher and stove went to friends and the fridge directly to appliance heaven.

I remember my parent’s kitchen when I was a little kid. We had an old ice box, and our milk man, Jack brought us a huge block of new ice every fourth or fifth day. The main compartment of the ice box was relatively small and was only used for perishables. We had to empty the drain drawer every few days and replace the block of ice. I recall how excited we were when we finally got our first, real refrigerator. It was a ‘Coldspot’.

My mother and I used to sit at the kitchen table and see how many words we could find in the name. My brothers and I were thrilled. Now we could make ice cubes, Kool-Aid popsicles, and have ice cream at home. Our stove was an old Moffat range that was in our house until I was a teenager. My mother used a wringer washer that stood in the corner of the kitchen and winter or summer, she hung our clothes and bedding out on the clothesline to dry.

I have wonderful memories of climbing into my freshly made bed and smelling the sun and the wind on my bed sheets and pillow cases. For as long as I can remember my brother and his wife only had a stove and fridge in their kitchen. Dorothy does all the cooking and Eric cleans up after meals and does the dishes. A few years ago they got a microwave and finally, after great deliberation, decided to get a dishwasher. Their whisper-quiet Miele dishwasher was soon named ‘The Mechanical Eric’. Eric now swears by his dishwasher and is amazed that it took him so long to get one.

It’s astonishing how quickly we take these modern day miracles for granted. I felt like a real adult when I bought my first washer and dryer. I have memories of carting my clothes out to a public laundromat in a taxi and then waiting in a lineup for an available machine. I recall wondering how rich you had to be to have a washer and dryer.

Nowadays you don’t have to be rich, you just need to work hard for what you want and then look after it when you get it. I have a great appreciation for my kitchen appliances, the washer and dryer in my basement, and handy things like my microwave, coffee maker, blender, vacuum cleaner, television, stereo equipment, answering machine, cell phone, pager, desktop computer, fax machine and calculator. All these devices make life so much easier and more enjoyable.

For me, “roughing it” is a day without a shower. I can’t imagine what it was like for my early ancestors who first came to the eastern United States in 1795. They made their way to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Life couldn’t have been easy for a pioneer family. Every day was a struggle just to survive.

My generation has enjoyed the luxury of modern household helpmates for so long that we feel deprived if the coffee maker breaks down and we have to go for a day without a fresh pot. We have everything at our fingertips, or at the very least, a phone call away. So the next time you feel a whine fest coming on, just imagine that you want a cup of tea and the first thing you have to do is grab a pail and head out to the well to get some water.

Now you must build a fire in the kitchen fireplace grate to boil the water. Then a trip out to the barn to milk the cow is in order. If you think you can just open the kitchen cupboard for a sweet treat to have with your tea – forget it. You’ll need to pick the fresh berries first, before you can make the cookies. Well, you get the picture, we have a lot to be thankful for – just look around your home and you’ll recognize your good fortune!